This has been a good year for Picayune Memorial High School.

School teams have taken state championships in two quite divergent areas: on the gridiron and on the stage.

The school’s Maroon Tide football team battled its way to a championship in Jackson many prognosticators had not foreseen before the final score and the school’s theatre group, High Tide Productions, wowed the crowd to walk away with the state championship at the Mississippi Theatre Association State Competition in Vicksburg. Both teams had members named to all-star teams as well.

While the Maroon Tide has no further championship games to play this school year, the High Tide Productions cast and crew have earned to right to “play” for a championship at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Mobile, Ala.

Of course, to reach that conference the group will have to raise about $14,000 to cover convention registration, travel and hotel rooms just as the football team is having to raise money to purchase championship rings for its members.

Ah, the joys of being the parent of a child who is active in school organizations. Our daughter “won” the right for us to send her to London when she was part of the Maroon Tide dance team.

No complaints here. As today’s kids say, “Just sayin’”

It’s wonderful to have children take part in school events and organizations. You actually know where they are much of the time. With all the rules and restrictions — including grade requirements — to participate in all the clubs or organization with which I am familiar, having to raise money to send Katie to London was a small price to pay for her participation.

The other wonderful thing is the way people in this county so strongly support the efforts of all the teams — athletic, scholastic and artistic — in all three of the county’s school districts.